Carmen Redding writes of her professional journey from teacher to school librarianship to state-level specialist. She begins by describing a common view of school librarians as non-teachers as being an old phenomenon that continues to have life. Being relegated to the position of school librarian was, most certainly in the eyes of some teachers, a…

School impact media studies indicate that a well-staffed and funded school library media program with a certified school library media specialist (SLMS) positively correlates with increased student achievement. SLMS must have a shared understanding of their roles and responsibilities to positively impact student success. In an effort to determine…

Describes the Hunter Education Librarians Project (HELP), a project begun at Western Carolina University (North Carolina) to gather information about the changing roles and professional development needs of school media coordinators. Preparations for the information-gathering meeting, setup and structure of the meeting, findings, and conclusions…

In March 2003, a total of 394 media specialists throughout the state of Kentucky completed an online survey regarding the professional development needs. The public relations subcommittee of the Kentucky School Media Association Board of directors generated the questions and collected data from the three parts of the survey-demographics,…

Describes the needs assessment, planning, implementation, and outcomes of a staff development program for the Nassau (New York) School Library System, which included three components: (1) area clusters for support and shared expertise; (2) training of cluster leaders; and (3) four full-day staff development sessions. (12 references) (MES)

Discusses the need for professional development opportunities for school library media specialists and describes the development of a workshop in Georgia for new media specialists. Includes the roles and responsibilities of media specialists, including collaboration with teachers; and decision-making responsibilities. (LRW)

Offers ten suggestions for developing the role of library media centers and media specialists within schools that center around improved communication with teachers, administrators and the public, involvement with curriculum decisions, familiarity with library materials, increased promotion of the media center, and professional development. (CLB)

Considers whether the role of the school library media specialist is that of teacher or administrator and discusses how media specialists can be proactive leaders. Topics include collaborating with teachers, serving on committees, communicating with the principal, attending professional conferences, volunteering in professional organizations, and…

Discusses the importance of evaluation of school library resource centers for effective schools and the professional development of teacher librarians. Provides a chart profiling the role of the teacher-librarian in the awareness, mechanical, routine, and refined stages of the implementation of critical educational components in a cooperative…

The role of school librarians has changed as the rapid expansion of information technology during the last decade has placed more emphasis on their participation in the instructional process, and propelled the librarian into a new role as school media specialist. Many media specialists have difficulty in grasping their role in schools. They are…

A survey of Arizona principals covered topics related to school media specialists: (1) the importance of specific librarian skills; (2) use of evaluation instruments to judge librarians; (3) communication between librarians and principals; (4) professional development opportunities; (5) how librarians should and do spend their time; and (6)…

Library Media Center 2000 (LMC2000) focuses on school library media services, technology, training, and advocacy--restructuring information and meeting linguistic, cultural, and multimedia learning needs. Over the last three years, San Francisco, California library media specialists have engaged in a process of professional development, networking…

Discusses the role of administrators and media specialists in the successful use of technology in schools and explains the TSSA (Technology Standards for School Administrators) project. Topics include hardware needs; applications, including software and Internet connectivity; teachers' technology use; and professional development for staff,…

Discussion of the changing environment and role of the school media specialist focuses on the adaptation of the Library of Congress classification, professional standards, staffing, the possibility of keeping school libraries open in the summer, the librarian as evaluator of material content rather than organizer, and school librarians as…

The information technology revolution is affecting schools on a broader basis than just libraries. Teachers, administrators, and educational technology specialists are all espousing expanded roles to address the new opportunities, with the result that responsibilities are beginning to overlap and roles are becoming blurred. The use of increasingly…